Ephram and Peyton
by Phaedra-14
Summary: Ephram meets Peyton, from One Tree Hill. What will happen? Will they become best friends? or more? I don't even know yet :)
1. Ephram meets Peyton

Ephram sat in math class by looking directly at the teacher and nodding slightly every so often he gave the impression that he was paying attention, not in the slightest. Ephram couldn't stop thinking about Madison. If you watched him closely you could see it in his face that he was not thinking about math because he seemed to have a slight smile on his face and his eyes weren't quite focused. Ephram was not the obvious type of guy who writes his girlfriends name on his binder, papers, and other things he looked down on those type of people. He was more mature than that. He was thinking about going after school and suprising her with some type of gift. He thought for a while he couldn't think of any meaningful gift he could give her, just a small reminder to her that he loved her. He really did love her he had told her that before, he was not bothered by the fact that she had not answered he knew that she loved him. It was then that Peyton walked in to the classroom. She carried her backpack loosely on one shoulder looking around the classroom nervously. She didn't fit in with this small quiet town. Why did her dad have to move her here why couldn't he get a permanent job closer to home. She walked towards the math teacher who had stopped his teaching and now was walking to her smiling.  
"You must be Peyton, our new student." He said first looking at her and then looking around the class. Ephram looked up at Peyton and couldn't help but smile slightly she looked so different compared to everyone living in Everwood. She looked extremely uncomfortable. Ephram wondered where she was from and who she was. Ephram's thoughts were interupted, "Why don't you set over there next to Ephram." Ephram looked to his left at the empty seat in suprise. Peyton began to make her way towards the empty seat but was soon stopped by the teacher. "Actually why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself before you sit down. It's not very often you get a new student at Everwood High." Peyton tried to smile, what could she say, she hated how teachers forced students into these meaningless often embaressing introductions, Ephram was thinking the exact same thing. She walked back towards the front of the room and faced her new classmates looking around.  
"Hey I'm Peyton, I'm from Tree Hill...ummmm.....my dad and I moved here because he found a good job as a doctor...." Peyton trailed off she kinda of shrugged her shoulders and looked towards the teacher. "That's about it." The teacher smiled at her.  
"Ok then, Peyton find your seat, and we'll continue with vectors." Peyton once again made her way to the seat located next to Ephram. She once again surveyed the class slowly looking around, everyone seemed so bland they all were really paying attention to the teacher, no passing notes, no daydreaming. And then she spotted Ephram. Ephram was looking towards her smiling slightly. She looked into his eyes, they were so deep so filled with his passions and loves, she smiled back. She moved towards the empty seat plopped her backpack down next to it and sat down, she was looking straight ahead but her eyes were on Ephram.  
"I'm Ephram." He said putting a couple of fingers up to say hi. She turned her head to him.  
"Nice to meet you Ephram," she said smiling, she wasn't sure but he could prove to be a friend in the future. He looked at her curiously.  
"So, your dad's a doctor." Ephrum couldn't believe it this beautiful girl had just walked in and was paying him a lot of attention. Not that he really cared, he had Madison, but still.  
"Yea, he's working for a Andy or maybe it was John." Peyton was interupted by the teacher.  
"I'm sorry to be yelling at you on your first day," the teacher said wearing a smile but still looking slightly annoyed, "but you two will need to stop talking." Peyton looked towards Ephram and smiled like they shared a little joke. Ephram tried to smile back but he was to taken aback, he had no idea his dad was hiring new doctors to assist him. Ephram was positive Peyton's dad was working for his dad, Andy Brown. Ephram felt so nervous and scared but he couldn't figure out why. 


	2. Peyton meets Bright

Yay! Thanks for the reviews, sorry I haven't been able to update for a very long time because I was on vacation in Charleston. I changed all Ephrums to Ephrams :).......................................................................... ...................................................................The bell rang and Ephram and Peyton both stood up slowly, it was time for lunch. Peyton looked at Ephram and smiled and then began walking away from the desk Ephram looked at her and thought she looked kind of sad. She had walked a couple of steps before Ephram called her back.  
"Do you want to eat lunch with a friend and me?" he asked leaning on his desk towards her with a small smile on his face. Her expression changed quickly and she gave him a huge smile.  
"Sure." She was so glad she wouldn't have to eat lunch all by herself. And this Ephram seemed like a really cool guy. This move had been really hard on her and her biggest fear was to be all alone at school with no friends. She looked Ephrum in the eyes smiling, her smile faded slightly, he had Luke's eyes. Peyton missed Tree Hill, Luke, Jake......and Brooke. From the bottom of her heart she missed Brooke the most she had left her best friend at a bad point, Brooke still hadn't forgiven her and had promised Peyton that she never would. She sighed deeply thinking of Brooke, she hated herself so much for what she had done. Peyton wondered what was happening back home at Tree Hill. She then realized Ephram had begun to walk and was now looking back towards her waiting for her to come too. She ran towards him to catch up.  
"So.....what do people like to do at Everwood?" she asked Ephrum. They were the exact the same height and when she talked to him in her excited friendly voice she was looking directly into his eyes. He smiled at her lifting his eyebrows slightly. He looked like he was laughing inside to himself. He turned to her.  
"I'll be honest, there is very little to do here in Everwood." Peyton knew that Ephram was probably telling the truth, from what she had seen it seemed like the most boring town ever. So very different from Tree Hill, there was much to do back at home, like basketball games, basketball parties, college parties, dances, not to mention Karen's cafe which had become a very popular hang out.  
"Ok" she said while they walked through the hall, "So what do you like to do?" Ephram looked at her she seemed so nice and he wondered who she was, her background, if she had any brothers or sisters, what her favorite food was. Then he realized that he would know her for a very long time and he would get to know her and find out all those little things about her....maybe. He turned back to her question in his mind. What did he do? What could he say? He hung with Madison. Lately he hadn't done much else, not that he regretted it he loved Madison and wanted to spend every minute with her.  
"Hmmm......movies, I play piano, I go to concerts," he trailed off because there was nothing more to say and also because he had just spotted Bright walking towards him. Bright wore a curious expression looking at Ephram then Peyton and then Ephram again. Bright arrived in front of them still looking at Peyton smiling curiously. "Peyton meet my friend Bright. Bright this is Peyton." Bright stuck out his hand and smiled.  
"Nice to meet you," he said still wearing his curious grin. Peyton reached out and shook his hand. She didn't usually get nervous around hot guys, but he was really hot. She thought of saying something but Ephram spoke for her.  
"Peyton just joined my math class, she's from Tree Hill, it was Tree Hill, wasn't it?" he turned towards Peyton.  
"Yea, that's right."  
"So should we find a place to sit down and eat?" Bright asked still looking at Peyton. Bright had decided that he shouldn't be interested in girls because he needed to concentrate on schoolwork but this girl seemed very different. She was unusual a unique person she was beautiful but it was obvious there was more to her. The three walked outside towards a picnic bench. Peyton in the middle, Ephram on her right and Bright on her left. Bright turned towards her.  
"Do you like Everwood so far?" Peyton turned towards Bright as he spoke and then smiled slightly.  
"I'm getting used to it." She said and then more jokingly "It's a bit boring." Bright laughed.  
"Yea you and Ephram are probably our only new people since....ever" he said laughing. Then Peyton turned to Ephram smiling.  
"When did you move here?" she asked drawing Ephram's attention back to her. He had been thinking about Madison.  
"A couple of years ago. After my mom died my dad moved my sister and I down here." He told her calmly. Peyton looked at him hard, his mom had died like hers. She wondered if she should tell Ephram that her mom had also died but that was not the type of thing she wanted to bring up. They reached the picnic table Ephram sitting on one side, Peyton on the other, and Bright on the right of Peyton. She smiled to herself, she could get used to this place. 


	3. Lanyie loves Jake

At lunch Amy sat with Lanee, she was pretending to listen to Lanee's talk of this "amazingly hot" out of town guy but her real focus was on Ephram. She always watched him at a distance because she was too afraid to actually go up to him. Ephram sat with her brother, god it annoyed her how close they had become, and the new girl. Amy had had science with her first period but she wasn't quite sure of her name....something obsqure.....it started with a P she was sure of it. She began silently sounding names to herself trying to remember. Lanee saw Amy wan't paying her any attention. Amy had gotten like that a lot lately. Always smiling and nodding but it was obvious she had something else on her mind.  
"What is it?" Lanee asked positioning herself so she was right in Amy's face.  
"Nothing," Amy tried giving Lanee a your imagining things look. It didn't work.  
"Come on I know something's on your mind," Lanee said leaning in closer as if to encourage Amy to tell her secret. Amy tried to force a smile.  
"I was just thinking about you and..." she strained to remember his name, Lanee had been talking about this guy for a week and she couldn't even remember his name, what type of person was she? "you and Jason." She was pretty sure that was it, but by Lanee's expression she could tell she had guessed wrong, she felt awful. Lanee looked sad like she could cry any second.  
"His name is Jake," she said searching Amy's face with unbelief. Amy put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes.  
"I'm sorry Lanee, I'm so so sorry, I haven't been paying attention to you....only myself. I'm sorry......I'm awful," and Amy was truly sorry it seemed like she had been doing everything wrong lately. She opened her eyes again and looked at Lanee.  
"I promise, you have my undivided attention, I want to hear all about this Jake fellow," she smiled at Lanee hoping that she would be forgiven. Lanee looked up at Amy and smiled softly. Amy was glad she had a friend as forgiving as Lanee. Lanee went on to repeat all that was said earlier about Jake. She had met him a week ago at a basketball game. He was pretty good and his team had killed Everwood's. She had approached him first, after the game, flirting madly, they went out to the ice cream shoppe after and according to Lanee made a deep connection. He had been so sweet to her and funny, flirting with her cautiously. Amy saw him as a shy sweet guy who would love and care for Lanee, she was happy for her. Lanee said that he seemed older and mature and that, although it sounded really odd, she felt protected with him. They had exchanged numbers and had been talking to each other on the phone for awhile. Amy's attention once again went back to Ephram, she couldn't help it, she couldn't get him off of her mind. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be doing a lot of laughing with this new girl. Amy knew Ephram he didn't laugh much he was more of the serious shy type. Amy was brought back to Lanee when she heard the name Peyton mentioned in the middle of Lanee's Jake story. That was it, that was the new girl's name, the girl Ephram had so obviously taken a fancy to. Amy tried to act casual when asking Lanee,  
"Wait, what about Peyton?" Lanee responded patiently with Amy,  
"I said that Jake is friends with the new girl, Peyton, and they used to go to school together." Amy was suprised, how weird was that. Excitement rose in Lanee as an idea came to her,  
"Let's go over and sit with them," she said motioning towards Ephram's table, "you know, to welcome her in and get to know her better," she paused, "hey...maybe she could prove to be a good friend." Fear rose in Amy she was scared to go over there.  
"Come on" Lanee urged taking Amy's arm and pulling her toward's Ephram's picnic table. Amy reluctanly let Lanee take her over to meet Peyton, she would have to meet her eventually. They had reached Ephram's table Lanee excitedly sat next to Ephram across from Peyton and stuck out her hand to Peyton and introduced herself.  
"Hey I'm Lanee, welcome to Everwood." Peyton smiled.  
"I'm Peyton." Lanee laughed.  
"I know who you are, your Jake's friend." She smiled happily. Peyton was filled with suprise and happiness, someone here knew Jake! "How to you know Jake??" she asked excitedly. Lanee was obviously pleased with her reaction. "He's my boyfriend," she said smiling half to herself. Peyton was filled with disbelief she had no idea that Jake had a girlfriend. Peyton wondered if Lanee knew about Jenny, Jake was not the type of guy to keep that information away from a girlfriend, but for some reason Peyton was sure Lanee had no idea. Amy was still standing at the table looking uncomforatable.  
"Hey Amy" Ephram said quietly with a smile on his face. He scooted over to make a spot for her. Amy got so nervous she could hardly look at him in the eyes. She looked up at Bright who was sitting across from her. He was giving her a semi cold glare he obviously was still mad at her. She shifted her gaze to Peyton. Amy couldn't believe how gorgious this girl was, she was beautiful. She reached out her hand coldly to Peyton.  
"I'm Amy" she said, the jelously in Amy was clearly visible.  
"Nice to meet you." Peyton's joy of meeting someone that knew Jake dissapeared quickly when she shook Amy's hand and saw Amy's cold stare. Peyton could tell that Amy hated her before they had even met. She turned back to Lanee and smiled.  
"Wow, I can't believe it," she was shaking her head, she really couldn't believe it, "How did you meet him?" she said leaning closer to Lanee. Peyton was trying to ignore Amy completely, Amy was still staring at her, she had been staring at Peyton for a very long time. Ephram couldn't believe Amy, she was acting so weird, so cold and for some weird reason she looked jelous. Why would Amy be jelous of Peyton? He didn't get it. Bright was surveying the whole scene not saying a word he watched Lanee and Peyton speak excitedly about Jake and how Lanee met him. And he watched Amy, coldly stare at Peyton, and Ephram, who was watching Amy with a surplexed questioning expression, he was trying to figure out why she was acting so different, the reason for the cold attitude towards Peyton was crystal clear to Bright. 


	4. English class with Peyton and Ephram

Lanyie and Amy had left to go to their classes and Peyton was left alone again with Bright and Ephram. "Sorry you had to meet my sister," Bright said while collecting his books to get ready to go. Peyton looked confused. "You're Amy's brother?" she asked half laughing. They hadn't acted like they even knew who the other was. "That's right," he said with a huge grin, "Anyways....I'm sorry she was so......I don't know.......mean......she's been acting really weird lately, got something on her mind, don't worry about it," by that time he had packed all of his books into his backpack. "I've got to go," he said smiling at Peyton and then at Ephram. He stood up. A thought came to him, "Hey, do you two want to do something after school?" He wanted more time to get to know Peyton better. Peyton smiled up at him. "Sure," she said. They both looked at Ephram waiting for a response. Ephram thought of his plans to suprise Madison and spend the day with her, on what the heck, he needed time to be with friends too, and Peyton was definetly proving that she would be one. Ephram felt happy when he thought of that, friends with this amazing girl, seemed odd, he didn't make very many friends. "Ok," he said nodding slightly looking at both of them. "Ok, cool, we'll meet at the flagpole afterschool," and with that he walked away. After a couple of yards, like an afterthought, he turned halfway around and waved a last goodbye to them. Ephram and Peyton were left alone. Peyton felt so comfortable with Ephram, he was so relaxed. She smiled at him. Ephram was the one who interupted the short silence. "So what class are you going to next?" he asked. Peyton began searching through her backpack looking for the small half sheet of paper with her schedule. She found the paper and began reading from it. "I have English with a Mrs. Lodish." Ephram smiled. "Me too. Let's go." Ephram stood up and motioned for her to do the same. She grabbed her back pack and walking next to him let him lead her to her next class. "So, you play piano," she was taking from the very little she knew about him. She paused, "Who do you think is the best piano player Larry Star, Gavin Degraw, or Michael Thomas?"(ok I made them up, sept Gavin....I love Gavin Degraw!) He looked suprised with her piano knowledge. (Gavin Degraw really does play keyboard.....just so you know) She looked pleased with his reaction. He recovered quickly. "Well, definetly not Gavin Degraw, he's more of a singer than a piano player," he smiled at her and then stroked his chin continueing to think. He made hmmmmmm sounds and clicked his tounge to add affect. Peyton laughed. "It's true, Gavin Degraw is more of a singer, he is GREAT at piano, but yes, more of a singer." "You know," she said pausing and looking at Ephram playfully, "I met Gavin Degraw once." (It's true, on one episode she did meet him) Ephram smiled, Gavin Degraw wasn't his favorite singer but he was still great and it was awesome that she had met him. "How did you meet him? When?" he asked curiously. "I ran into him, I was just like, wow......your Gavin Degraw." Ephram looked at her she was so cute he could actually picture her saying something like that. "And that's all you said?" "No!!" she said playfully nudging him with her elbow. He raised his eyebrows waiting for her to continue. "I invited him to perform at an open mike night at a friend's cafe," she said. They had reached their English classroom. Ephram stood outside motioning for her to go in first. He followed her close behind. Peyton looked around the room wondering where she was to sit. Ephram leaned closer to her, "open seating" he said with his half smile. "Coool, can I sit with you?" she asked following him. "Yeaaaaaaa," he said as if it was obvious that ehy would sit together being that they had been friends for so long. Peyton sat next to Ephram towards the back of the class. All during English Ephram did what he had never done before, passed notes. They talked about Ephram's family, Delia, his Dad, how they had moved to Everwood in the first place, they talked about Madison. They talked for a little about Peyton's old crush, but it was obvious she didn't want to talk about it much. They talked about drawing and piano, about their plans for the future, Ephram a concert pianist and Peyton an artist. And of course they talked about the fact that Peyton's dad would be working with Ephram's dad. Both Ephram and Peyton left the classroom so happy. They would be great friends, they both knew it. 


	5. After School

Bright and Peyton were sitting on a bench near the flagpole waiting for Ephram to arrive. Bright was glad to have a little time alone with Peyton. The two were talking about movies together, they shared pretty similiar tastes. They were talking about Johnny Depp and competing with each other to see who had seen the most of his movies. "Benny and Joon," Peyton said. Benny and Joon was one of her favorites. "Seen it," Bright responded quickly. He had seen it, at least he thought. He'd seen a lot of movies with old girlfriends but he never really payed attention to the movie. "Pirates of the Carribean," Peyton asked trying to be serious about it. "Duh," Bright loved this so much, she was adorable. "Hmmmm.....Edward Scissorhands?" she asked looking in his eyes playfully. "Yup," he actually hadn't seen it but he couldn't admit to not seeing it, it would ruin Peyton's game. It was then that Ephram chose to arrive. Peyton looked up from Bright at Ephram and waved for him to come over. He stood in front of the bench, hands in pockets. "So, where to?" he asked. "You know what we could do...." Peyton ventured, "we could move all of my stuff in." Bright grinned, "All right, Ephram you up for it?" Bright asked looking up at him. Ephram nodded. "Sounds cool....and maybe after we could see a movie," Ephram said taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. "Ok, let's go," Peyton said standing up. Bright and Ephram followed Peyton's lead. They had been walking for a good 20 minutes joking and talking all the way. When Peyton began to realize that it shouldn't be taking this long, and she had become lost when trying to go to her own house. She didn't know how to tell Bright and Ephram this. The two were talking and laughing together, she interuppted their conversation. "I think we're lost," she said slowly to them, trying to keep calm. Bright tried to hold back his laughter but was unsuccessful. "You got lost when trying to find your house?" Bright asked. Peyton smiled, it was pretty funny. "Yes," she said putting her hand to her forehead laughing. Ephram spoke up, "Do you know what your address is?" Peyton strained to remember, she had stopped laughing by then. "567 Mountain Drive," she said looking at Ephram expectantly. Ephram and Bright smiled, they knew exactly where that was. "Peyton," Bright said grinning from cheek to cheek, "your my new neighbor." Bright should have thought of this before, how could he not have, his parents had told him just that morning that the new people from the city were had just moved in. Peyton looked suprised, that was cool, then she thought about it again, and was not as happy with what she had come to realize while Bright lived their so did Amy. And Peyton hated that girl. Peyton had had last period with Amy and the whole time Amy was staring across the room at her with her, it frightened Peyton. Ephram interupted a short lasting silence, "ok then, we are really going the wrong way." "Yea," Bright continued, "I think I'll lead the way now." And Ephram and Bright turned around and walked in the exact oposite direction, and Peyton followed. When they got to Peyton's house they saw that Dr. Abbot had already stopped by to introduce himself to Peyton's dad. He was just leaving as they came up. "Hey Bright," he said looking at the three with a cocked head. For some reason he looked worried, then again he looked puzzled and worried a lot. "Hey Dad," Bright said smiling, "This is Peyton, our next door neighboor." Dr. Abbot (what is his first name???) smiled and slowly reached out to Peyton to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you Peyton," he said looking at her, he then looked over at Bright, "Remember dinner is at 6, be home by 6." "K dad," Bright said cooly. Dr. Abbot left to go into his house, and Peyton entered her new home followed by Bright and then Ephram. "Dad!?!?" Peyton called. Her dad walked down the steps towards them, he looked happy and suprised when he saw Peyton had brought guests. She had already made friends, he knew she would fit right in. "Hey sweetie," he said while looking over Bright and Ephram. "This is Bright," she said motioning to Bright, "And this is Ephram," she said motioning to Ephram. "And this," motioning at her dad, "is my dad," she said looking back at Bright and Ephram smiling. "Nice to meet you boys," her dad said in a friendly voice. "They're here to help us move our stuff," Peyton said looking at her Dad. "Oh," he paused, "then it's really nice to meet you guys." They worked for the next hour and a half bringing stuff in and moving it around, talking the whole time. Peyton asked if they wanted to see the movie but Bright declined, regret clear on his face, because of his dad's warning, and Ephram too because he had to babysit his sister Delia. "Oh well," she said smiling, "maybe some other time." Bright's face lit up, "I'm free Friday, we could see secret window," he said happily. "Cool with me," Ephram said, he had been wanting to see that movie, he begged Madison to see it with him but she thought it too scary. "Yea, cool," Peyton said looking at Bright nodding sligtly. They then left, Peyton was watching them leave through the window. 


	6. At the Brown Residence

When Ephram got home Madison was there waiting for him. She looked upset about something.  
"Hey," Ephram said kissing her quickly on the lips, "You're here?" he said smiling showing her that he was pleased that she was here.  
"Ephram," she took a deep breath and looked at him, "who was that girl I saw you with today?" Ephram was confused for a second, what was she talking about? Then he realized she must have driven by and seen him and Peyton together. But she must have seen Bright with them, why was she so concerned. Ephram tried to sound casual, it was no big deal.  
"That was Peyton, she's new here," he said, "I was just welcoming her to Everwood that's all." Madison didn't look satisfied with his answer. She nodded her head,  
"She's really pretty, really really beautiful," she said looking at her feet. Ephram didn't know what to say, did Madison think he was cheating on her or something. How weird, he was the devoted one, who spent every waking minute with her, and the one who had told her he loved her. He touched her cheek lightly in reasurance and looked into her eyes,  
"I love you, and I think YOU'RE beautiful," he said slowly. Madison smiled at him, he had to be the most devoted loyal boyfriend ever she didn't know why she had worried. It was just when she saw the two together they were laughing and Peyton was looking at him like.....oh....Madison wasn't sure. She had seen Bright there too but when she had seen them it just seemed like there was something special between Ephram and Peyton, luckily, she was wrong. She smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him. They stopped short when hearing Delia calling,  
"Madison?!?! Where are you?" Madison smiled she missed babysitting Delia and spending time with her she was an adorable sweet kid, but it was too weird, with her dating Ephram and all. But she was still friends with Delia, Delia idolized Madison to no extent. Delia ran into the room, dissapointed when she saw Ephram, once Ephram arrived Madison spent all of her time with him and none with her. Madison spoke to Ephram,  
"I should go," she then turned to Delia got down on a knee and told her that they would play with Delia's new toy next time she was over, but she had to leave now." Delia knew it was never going to happen, Madison came over just to talk to Ephram not to hang out with Delia. She stood up and looked once again at Ephram,  
"Look, I'm sorry about umm...being worried about Peyton, I should have known you would never ever do anything behind my back, I'm so so sorry." She kissed him quickly and left out the side door. Delia gave Ephram a mean glare.  
"What is it now?" Ephram asked shaking his head and walking away from her towards the kitchen. Delia decided on a good silent treatment she would give him mean stares until he finally treated her nicely and asked her politely why she was upset. That always worked. Ephram opened the fridge looking for something Delia and himself could eat. His father was spending the night with Linda so Delia and him were all alone. Ephram hated babysitting Delia lately she had become so moody. When he tried to do something with her or help her with homework she would bite back. He couldn't figure her out. He took out cold pizza from the fridge and put two pieces on a paper plate for Delia and left in on the counter, took three for himself and headed for the couch to watch TV. Delia took her pizza and ate him quietly on the kitchen table. She hated her Dad for leaving her so many nights alone with Ephram while he had fun with Linda. She hated Ephram for not caring enough to want to spend time with her. She liked Madison but hated how she liked Ephram. Needless to say, Delia was not in a good mood, she finished her pizza ran up into her room and slammed the door behind her. She lay on her bed she missed how it used to be when they had first moved here. Ephram would always be in the room next to her doing whatever he liked to do, her Dad would tuck her in and talk to her about whatever she wanted to talk about. She thought of her mother, she came pretty close to crying, but she was too angry for that.  
Ephram was still sprawled out on the couch when Andy Brown finally arrived home at 10:30. His Dad walked in happily, he always was happy after coming back from Lindas, and called out to Ephram.  
"Ephram are you still awake?" Ephram chose to remain silent, he hated having to answer obvious pointless questions, obviously he was awake. His Dad walked up to the table took the remote from the table and turned the TV off. Ephram didn't really care he wasn't really watching it anyways.  
"So how was school?" Andy Brown liked to pretend he was interested in his children's lives, that's at least what Ephram thought was happening. Because in truth if Andy Brown really cared about his children he would be spending his time with them and not Linda. Ephram stood up slowly from his position on the sofa.  
"Good," he said rolling his eyes, he also hated how his Dad asked him that, it was the number one favorite parent's question and it was just plain stupid. When he was older he would know all of his kid's classes and all about their projects he would ask how did your science project on whatever go? Yes, he would be a great father some day. He would spend time with his kids, he would treat them like adults, he wouldn't ignore their problems, and he certainly wouldn't ask his kids pointless questions like how was school. Ephram left the room and went up stairs to go to bed, he ignored his father's goodnight completely. Andy Brown was left alone in the living room shaking his head puzzled, what did he do wrong? 


	7. At Peyton's house

Peyton was in her new room blasting Katy Rose on her stereo. She lay on her bed, which Ephram and Bright had just moved into her room a couple of hours ago. She had taken out her drawing notebook with a glimmer (right word?) of a smile playing on her face she drew a picture of herself, Ephram, and Bright walking down the road together, herself in the middle. Her cartoon like pictues managed to capture Ephram and Bright's personalities perfectly. She finished the drawing and held it wasy from her looking at it. The day had gone better than she thought it would have. She looked at her two new friends, both so different. She put her sketch pad away when she heard her dad knock at the door.  
"Come in," Peyton called sitting up on her bed. Her Dad walked in and took a seat near her on the edge of the bed. Peyton reached to turn of the music so they could talk. She turned to him,  
"So, how did your day go?" she asked. She loved it so much when her Dad would come in here and they would just talk. And with this permanent job that didn't make him move around these talking sessions would become more common. She smiled at that thought.  
"It was good, no it was great," he continued, "I'm so glad to be settling down because I can spend more time with you now."  
"Yea," she said. Peyton remembered all the times when her Dad had to leave because of work he would be gone for weeks sometimes months and she would be left all alone. Those were very lonely times and she was glad they were over. They went on to talk more in detail about the other's day. Her Dad told Peyton about Andy Brown his boss, he believed him to be a genuinely good guy, they had had lunch together and apparently really got to know the other. Peyton spoke excitedly when she told her Dad that Andy Brown was Ephram's father. Her father didn't seem to suprised,  
"Yea, he said he had two kids, a 16-year old which must be Ephram and a 12-year old." Peyton responded fast,  
"Delia!" Her Dad asked her more about Bright and Ephram. Peyton gushed happily (it doesn't happen that often I know) about her knew friends. She told of Ephram's love for piano and Bright's shared love for Johnny Depp, and so on. After her father left she turned the music back on, got under the covers, and lay their thinking. She was nearing sleep when she heard a "tap" and then again. She chose to ignore it at first but it continued. She came to realize what it was, someone was throwing pebbles at her window to get her attention. She knew it was Bright, who else could it be, and she was right. When she opened her window she could see Bright standing their looking up at her.  
"Hey," he called up to her.  
"What's up?" she asked wondering his reasons for coming over. He looked nervous, which is unusual for Bright.  
"Tommorow do you want to walk to school together?" he asked. He didn't know why he was acting like this, usually he liked to have the girls come to him. He felt a little uneasy on this ground, he felt a little nervous around her. He had always before felt complete control but around her, he wasn't sure what to say or he was unsure what to do.  
"Sure," she said, "what time?" She was planning on going over there in the morning to walk with him anyways.  
"How about...7:45?" he asked, "is that good or do you need more time?"  
"Nah, back at Tree Hill you had to leave at 6:30, so 7:45 is fine with me," she said.  
"Wow, so early," it sounded so lame but he couldn't think of anything else to say. What was happening? Why was he like this all of a sudden? He never was at lost of words before.  
"Ok then," she called, "see you" and she began closing the window. Bright didn't want her to go, he wanted her to keep on talking, he wasn't sure if he would be able to talk back, but he just loved the sound of her voice. He told her goodnight and turned back to go home. Peyton had absolutely no idea that Bright was in love with her, she had seen him acting a bit odd, but thought very little of it. 


	8. Bright and Peyton walk to school togethe...

Peyton searched through a box at the edge of her room marked "Clothes." She found what she had been looking for, satisfied, she pulled out her red sleeveless shirt. It would look perfect with her leather jacket. She quickly slipped out of her flannel night shirt and put on the tight fitting shirt. She put on the pair of jeans she had been wearing yesterday and headed down stairs for a quick breakfast. When she got downstairs her dad was already up and making breakfast. She smiled at the sight of him trying to flip a humongous pancake in a tiny frying pan without ruining it. He flipped it successfully she heard a small "perfect!" from her Dad. Peyton laughed at her Dad he turned around quickly startled. He hadn't known she was watching him. He recovered quickly,  
"Get yourself some orange juice and I'll have these pancakes done for you any second," he said returning to the pancake he was making. He slid the spatula under the pancake every so often lifting it up slightly to check to see if it was done. When it was done he picked up the pan and slid the pancake off of it and onto Peyton's ready plate. Peyton sat down with her plate and juice and ate readily. She was done in less that a minute before her Dad could finish the second pancake he was making for her. She was grabbed her leather jacket from the coat hanger and backpack from off the ground and headed out the door. She called goodbye to her Dad ignoring his words of protest. She slowly walked towards Bright's house wondering if she should go up and ring or just wait outside. But she didn't have to worry about it because that very second Bright rushed out the front door. He gave her a small wave on his porch and then headed down the walkway towards her. He must have been waiting for her by the window or something, Peyton thought. They began walking to school together.  
"So you're like me, you don't have a car?" she asked smiling.  
"Nah," he said shaking his head, "I like walking sometimes," he liked walking with her. Hey had thought about asking her if she wanted a ride, (he knew she didn't have a car) but thought a long walk would be a good chance to talk and a little more romantic. He had heard that a lot of girls liked outdoorsey guys that enjoyed long walks. She looked at him nodding, smiling. He still couldn't think of much to say, he thought through possible conversation topics. But he didn't have to, she had already begun to talk again.  
"So, how about Amy, does she drive?" Peyton asked. She wanted to learn more about her, oddly enough, she just wanted to know what caused her to be so cold to her the other day. It was obvious that Amy had a story, a probably long and complicated one at that, and Peyton was curious to hear it. And plus, Ephram had seemed pretty friendly towards her, maybe she had a nice side.  
"Yea, my parents got her a car a couple months ago," he said glad to have a topic to talk about, even if it was.....his sister. He continued, "she had been going through a lot of stuff and my Dad bought her a car, to try to cheer her up, I guess." Peyton wondered what this "stuff" was. But she didn't know if Bright wanted to talk about it, so she kept it down.  
"Did it help, did a brand new car cheer up?" she said sarcastically laughing. Obviously a brand new car would cheer anybody up. He laughed too, looking down at her, some of his nervousness was leaving him. Then more seriously he spoke,  
"Nah, it was real tough on Amy," he said pausing thinking about what Amy had been like a few months ago. She still wasn't completely back to the normal Amy, but then again, maybe she never would be. He continued talking, because he knew he couldn't just leave it like that. "She saw a loved one die, and she'll never really get over it," he slowed for a second, looking straight ahead he forced himself to continue telling her about Amy, "She went into a really serious depression....It was awful." He looked down at the ground, not looking at Peyton. All of a sudden he wished the subject of Amy hadn't come up. Why did he tell her all of that? Why? They could have had a nice pleasent conversation about movies, music, cars, other memebers of his family, why did he have to bring up Amy and Colin and everything? He looked over at Peyton. She looked so upset, she was staring at the ground, she looked like she could cry.  
"Poor Amy," she said softly. She felt awful, she had been looking for some juicy gossip about Amy. She had thought of Amy as a cold bitch, she felt so bad.  
"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have told you anything," he said looking at her worried.  
"No, It's fine," she said looking up into Bright's eyes trying to smile. After a couple of minutes of silence Bright ventured to lighten the mood, change the topic, think of something else.  
"So, I just got back my letter from Notre Dame," he said pausing looking at her smiling.  
"Yea?" she asked smiling.  
"Yup, and..." he paused for more dramatic affect, "I got in." (hehe, I couldn't help making him get into college, after yesterday's episode)  
"Wow!" She cried excitedly, "Good job!" He smiled to himself, it had been exciting, he had been overwelmed with joy, he had been positive he wouldn't get in. He looked at Peyton, next year she would be going through the same drama. (yes, as you already knew, probably, I made Peyton younger, even though she looks to be like 5 years older than Bright) The tension, Bright thought back to how nervous he had been, it was awful to go threw that. She went on to say that she hoped to get into Duke, it didn't seem like the perfect fit for Peyton, but Bright just smiled encouragingly. They talked about how they saw Ephram going to Julius West. (Do i have that right?) Bright told Peyton he thought Ephram would be famous someday. Peyton smiled nodding, she laughed,  
"We'll probably be his long forgotten friends sitting in the audience watching him play," she thought about what she had just said. She had just told Bright that she thought she had already become friends with Ephram and Bright. Bright didn't seem to notice her saying the word friends, he laughed too. They arrived at school, right on time. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. 


	9. What will happen to Bright?

Laynie was chatting to Peyton non-stop about Jake. Thoughts raced through Peyton's head, Laynie didn't know Jake at all, if she didn't know about Jenny than how well could she know Jake? Peyton knew for certain that Jake would not have a girlfriend that didn't know about Jenny. Then again it could be that he was embaressed or that he was planning on telling her soon. Laynie was still talking,  
"Jake's just so different, you know?" she said gushing excitedly.  
"Yea," Peyton said smiling at her. Laynie sighed to herself,  
"God I love him." Ephram walked up just in time to hear Laynie's last words. He sat down next to Peyton.  
"Who do you love?" he asked while reaching into his backpack to pull out his lunch.  
"Someone you don't know," she said teasingly.  
"No come on, tell me about him," Ephram said now looking at her smiling.  
"Ok," she said, obviously pleased to have Ephram's interest, "his name is Jake." Ephram interupted her,  
"Yes I know that much from your conversation yesterday, I also know that you," he said looking at Peyton, "know Laynie's famous Jake." Peyton thought about Jake again.  
"I wish Jake was here right now, I wish," she paused, "I wish he LIVED in Everwood," Peyton said.  
"I was just thinking that!" Laynie cried. Ephram was about to ask for more information about Jake but the conversation was interupted when Amy arrived.  
"Hey," Amy said in greeting looking at Laynie and Ephram.  
"Hey!" Laynie said happily, "Have a seat," she patted the spot next to her.  
"Actually, Laynie, can I talk to you for a couple of seconds privately?"  
"Sure," she said standing up to leave, she turned to Ephram and Peyton, "I'm be right back." They had walked far enough to make sure there was no chance of Ephram and Peyton seeing them.  
"Since when do we eat with them??" Amy asked angrily. Laynie looked confused.  
"Amy, why do you NOT want to eat with them?" she asked. Amy calmed herself,  
"I'm sorry, I just, I don't know," she said shaking her head and looking away.  
"What is it?" Laynie asked, "Is it Ephram?" Laynie could tell Amy still had a crush on him. Amy didn't say anything. "So where do you want to eat them?"  
"I guess we can eat with them, I just, don't really like Peyton, that's all," Amy said.  
"What????" Laynie exclaimed in surpise.  
"I told you, I don't really like her that much."  
"Why????" Laynie asked giving Amy a weird look.  
"I don't know, I can't explain it to you," Amy said.  
"Do you want to eat with them or not?" Laynie asked.  
"Yes, ok, let's eat with them," Amy said beginning to walk back towards their table. It wouldn't be that bad, she would talk to Ephram and maybe, just maybe, their friendship could return to what it had been before Madison and Tommy. Amy knew she was just kidding herself, you couldn't rewind like that.  
"Ok," Laynie said still confused by all that her friend had said. Laynie tried to think of reasons Amy would dislike Peyton. Peyton was such a cool nice person. There wasn't a single thing wrong with her. She walked with Amy back to the table and they sat down together. When they returned Ephram and Peyton were looking at them as if waiting for them to explain what had happened at their secret meeting. There was a brief silence but Peyton quickly interupted it.  
"I wonder, where Bright is," she said looking around the school grounds.  
"Yea, he should be here by now," Ephram said also moving his head back and forth searching the people for Bright's familiar face. Ephram froze when he heard a scream coming from inside the school. He recognized it, he knew it was Bright. The other three at the table had come to the same scary realization and at the same time they all jumped up and ran to the school. They crashed into the school looking for Bright. It took a couple of minutes for them to locate him lying on the ground at the bottom of the stairs. Peyton rushed up to him and turned him right side up, his eyes were closed and he was out cold. Amy examined her brother from head to toe, she was scared. His leg looked like it was broken, and nothing else lied perfectly implace either. She spoke quickly,  
"Somebody call an ambulence," she got down next to her brother. Laynie rushed off to do as Amy had directed. Amy, Ephram, and Peyton all sat near Bright scared and unsure what to do. Amy knew not to touch him or try to pick him up. She had learned that much from health class. But what could she do to help? She just sat their with Ephrma and Peyton knowing their was nothing to do but wait for the ambulence to arrive. A small group of people had gathered around Bright but Amy hardly noticed them. 


	10. At the Hospital

Amy, Ephram, Laynie, and Peyton sat in the waiting room. Bright's parents would be arriving soon too. Amy sat close to Ephram.  
  
"What do you think they're doing to him?" Amy asked quietly.  
  
"They're setting his leg, putting it in a cast," Ephram answered.  
  
"So you think that's all that was wrong?"  
  
"Yea, I do," Amy wanted so badly for Ephram to put his arm around her. His touch would have been so comforting. Laynie and Peyton were talking to each other quietly. Amy tried to make out what they were talking about, Laynie looked really upset. She overheard a couple of words, Jake.....Jenny. Anger rushed into Amy how dare they be talking about Jake when Bright was just a couple of rooms away and could be paralyzed forever. She knew she was exaggerating, he wasn't going to be paralyzed, but she wasn't quite sure how bad it was going to be.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -  
  
Peyton felt awful, at a time like this, how could she have let it slip. She had told Laynie about Jenny, accidentally, she really had no idea how it had happened. Laynie had been talking about Jake, which was completely inappropriate since they had been driving to the hospital behind Bright's ambulance. And Peyton had gotten annoyed that she would be talking about Jake and somehow it had all come out. Peyton had never felt worse, she had basically told Laynie that she couldn't be too serious of a girlfriend if she didn't know about Jenny. At first Laynie had acted upset at Peyton but when she heard who Jenny was  
  
"I can't believe he never told me," Laynie said close to tears.  
  
"I'm so sorry Laynie, I shouldn't have told you," Peyton said.  
  
"I guess we aren't really as serious as I thought we were," Laynie cried, "...I thought he was my one....my soul mate." Peyton felt so so awful. Why couldn't she have kept her mouth closed like she had planed to before?  
  
"I'm sure he was going to tell you soon," Peyton said, "I mean it's hard to tell someone that you have a baby," Peyton continued, "He didn't actually tell us until much later." Laynie was trying hard not to cry but the tears were coming down now. Laynie and Peyton had moved away from Amy and Ephram and Laynie made sure that her back was facing Amy, so she wouldn't come over to see what the trouble was.  
  
"Yea, I don't know," he didn't act like he planned on ever telling me.  
  
"I'm so sorry," Peyton said and reached over to Laynie and hugged her tight. Their hug was interrupted when a doctor walked into the room.  
"Who here is for Bright Abbot?" He asked looking around the waiting room. All 4 of them stood up and began speaking at once. They all were asking how is he and can we see him over and over again, the doctor was taken aback.  
  
"Ok," they quieted down, "he broke his leg, and we believe he will be fine, but can't be sure yet," all four of them looked all equally upset.  
  
"What could be wrong, what are you talking about?" Amy asked.  
  
"We don't know yet," the doctor answered.  
  
"What kind of an answer is that?" Amy asked upset.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry, he'll probably be fine, but at this point we can't be positive," the doctor answered, not calming Amy at all. "But, the good news is, he is conscience, if you would like to see him," the doctor said. The doctor was followed by Ephram, Amy, Peyton, and Laynie into Bright's room. Bright was laying there, head propped up, smiling to them.  
  
"Hey, you guys," he said cheerily.  
  
"Hey," they answered in unison.  
  
"So, how are you feeling?" Peyton asked coming towards his bed.  
  
"Fine," Bright said shrugging. Ephram came closer to Bright's bed too,  
  
"So what happened?" he asked. Bright laughed shaking his head,  
  
"It's embarrassing, I'd rather not talk about it," Bright said. 


	11. At the Basketball Game

Thank you so much for the cool tip, i'm going to use it. Ummm....with Bright in the hospital, I did have a plan for him (while he was in hospital Peyton and Ephram would fall in love, or just something to kinda take him out of the story so Peyton could have some type of relationship...I don't know.....) but now I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it, cause I've decided I want Peyton and Bright to be together, sooooooooooo.......if you have any ideas REVIEW!!!(i'm a really sucky fan fiction writer) And if i can't think of something i'm just going to take him out of the hospital, i know how stupid that is, he goes in and out of the hospital and nothing happens, oh well.........oh and by the way, for the curious reviewer (aka colorado2) he fell down the stairs.....(kinda lame)(sorry)(did i get ur hopes up?)(u probably thought it would be such an interesting story)(I'm not too orginal)(don't hate me) hmm.....maybe he could have been carrying flowers and chocolates for Peyton and he was carrying all of his other books and stuff too and THATS why he fell down the stair case, he lost his balance cause of all the stuff he was carrying...eh...whatever, wow i bet this intro is going to be longer than the actual story.....anyways, happy reading!  
  
Peyton sat on the bleachers next to Laynie. She was filled with pure antisipation and excitement. The tree hill basketball team was coming to Everwood. She wasn't quite sure why, becuase the Everwood teams sucks and the One Tree Hill team is amazing, but she was happy for it. She hadn't even told Luke or anybody, it would be a suprise. She smiled to herself, she couldn't wait to see Lukas, Jake, Tim, and even Nathan. Laynie sat on Peyton's left, she bit her left and crossed her arms tightly to her chest. She had to talk to Jake about Jenny, after the game, she played the scene of her confrontation in her head over and over again. She was so scared. Laynie and Peyton watched the Everwood boys practice, not saying a word. The gym doors burst open as the One Tree Hill boys ran into the room. Peyton stood up quickly smiling, she ran to the guys and started hugging all of them. Lukas was taken aback when Peyton nearly knocked him over. Laynie stood up slowly and walked carefully down the steps. She hadn't planned on telling Jake she knew about Jenny until after the game but whatever. She called to him.  
  
"Jake!" she called walking a little bit faster. Jake had never heard his name filled with such sadness. He ran towards her and pulled her into a huge hug.  
  
"I missed you," he said softly into her ear. Laynie went weak she loved him so much. When Laynie didn't say anything Jake pulled back from her, "What's wrong?" he asked. Laynie wanted to say nothing but that would just put things off, she had to tell him that she knew.  
  
"I know that you have a baby, Jenny," Laynie said slowly not looking directly at him. Jake was stunned, he had planned to tell her himself, he had wanted to tell her from the beginning but for some reason, he couldn't get himself to. How on earth could Laynie have found out? His answer came within seconds. Peyton jumped on him from behind, and covered his eyes with her hands,  
  
"Guess who!" Peyton said excitedly. Jake whirled around to look at her.  
  
"Peyton!" he was so shocked. Peyton had never said exactly where she was moving to. His happiness to see her soon turned into anger, why did she have to tell Laynie?? But then he realized that he shouldn't blame Peyton for something like this, Laynie would have to know this type of thing, and he should have told her from the beginning.  
  
"Yup!" Peyton said smiling. Then Peyton noticed Laynie and how sad she was looking, she quickly went back to Lukas, she knew they would need some time alone. Jake turned back to Laynie.  
  
"I'm so so so sorry," he said looking into her sad eyes, "I wanted to tell you from the beginning, but I don't know....I loved how things were between us, and I didn't want to mess things up..." he trailed off looking down at his feet, waiting for Laynie to respond. Laynie didn't say a word, she didn't know whether to be mad at Jake or to give him a big hug and tell him that she would have loved him with or without a baby, even though, she admitted to herself, it would have made a huge difference in their relationship. "Laynie, please say something," Jake pleaded. Laynie wiped the tears from her eyes.  
  
"I don't know what to say," Laynie said shaking her head. She hugged him tight and wispered softly into his ear, "I love you Jake." He pulled out of the hug and looked her in the eyes,  
  
"I love you too," he pulled her back into a hug.  
  
"Jake," Laynie said her crying slowing, "I want to meet Jenny, I really want to be a part of your life, and Jenny is the biggest part of your life." Jake smiled,  
  
"Ok, this weekend, you'll meet Jenny," he said, "do you want to stay the weekend in Tree Hill at my house?" he asked. Laynie smiled, she was going to for the first time go to Jake's house and more importantly for the first time, she was going to meet Jake's baby. The two of them stood in the middle of the gym, the other guys practicing all around them, they hardly noticed anybody but each other.  
  
"yea," Laynie said nodding.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------***---------  
  
Peyton and Lukas sat on the bleachers next to each other. They watched Jake and Laynie hugging and kissing, and talking more normally now that Jenny was out of the way. Even though Jake and Laynie both knew that Jenny wasn't out of the way. Peyton had just told Luke the whole story with Laynie and telling Laynie about Jenny. Lukas laughed looking at Peyton,  
  
"It's a small world, I never dreamed Jake's Laynie was your new best friend," Peyton laughed. "So how is this school? Are you making a lot of new friends?" Luke asked.  
  
"Yea," Peyton said smiling to herself, "I have, but my new friends will never replace my old ones," Peyton said looking hard at Luke. Luke looked back at her and smiled. Peyton wanted to lean over and kiss him so badly, whenever he smiled she went weak. Acutally, the second she saw him coming through the doorway she was weak. She tried to act like she just felt of him as a friend, but she wanted so so much more.  
  
"Peyton, I've missed you," Luke said putting his arm around her and pulling her closer to him.  
  
"I've missed you too," she said. "So what new has happened at Tree Hill?" she asked smiling.  
  
"Lots, tons of drama, it's beyond belief," he said laughing. Peyton knew how true it was, there was always so much drama at Tree Hill, which was so completely opposite to Everwood.  
  
"So???? Come on, tell me!" Peyton said nudging him softly.  
  
"Haley and Nathan are fighting," he said calmly, "Tim is in love with Deb," Peyton laughed, she couldn't wait to ask Tim after the game about that one. "My mom is rethinking her decision to not marry Keith," he said this one with a smile. "And, Brooke is still not talking to me," Luke finished. Peyton looked over at Luke,  
  
"that's great about Keith and your mom, they are so perfect for each other," Peyton said encouragingly. "And, trust me, Brooke will eventually get over it," Peyton said.  
  
"yea, maybe," Luke said looking at nothing in particular. Whitey called over to Luke, to start practicing. He stood up slowly looking down at Peyton, "I'll see you after the game, ok?" he said calmly.  
  
"Yea," Peyton said smiling. And with that he ran off to the other guys. Jake was also forced to leave Laynie. She walked back towards Peyton, smiling slightly to herself.  
  
"So how did it all go?" Peyton asked once Laynie had sat down beside her.  
  
"Fine, I'm going to meet Jenny," she said.  
  
"Good," Peyton said smiling at Laynie, "when?"  
  
"This weekend," Laynie said.  
  
"Really??" Peyton said slightly upset, "I'm so jelous, I want to go to Tree Hill too." Laynie and Peyton laughed together.  
  
"You should, come back for a visit, this weekend!" Laynie exclaimed happily. Peyton thought it over,  
  
"Who would I stay with?"  
  
"I don't know, you've got to have at least one friend there," Laynie said laughing. Peyton laughed along, but she still couldn't think of anyone. There was Brooke, and Brooke hated her, that was almost it. There was Luke. And there was Jake, Laynie was staying with Jake so that option was out. 


	12. Back at the Hospital

Ephram and Amy sat together next to Bright's hospital bed.  
  
"So what happened?" Amy asked.  
  
"Promise not to tell Peyton?" Bright asked cautiously.  
  
"Yea, of course," Amy said nodding. Bright looked over at Ephram who also agreed, silently, by nodding his head.  
  
"Ok, well, I was planning on asking her out the other day.." he said. Amy quickly interuppted him,  
  
"What?!? You just met her!" Amy said annoyed at all the good attention Peyton was getting.  
  
"So?" Bright asked annoyed.  
  
"You hardly know her!" Amy said.  
  
"ok, whatever, anyways, I was planning to ask her out and I wanted to be especially romantic for her" Bright said, he was interuppted once again by Amy.  
  
"You wanted to be romantic??" Amy said in disbelief.  
  
"Yes, Amy, I wanted to be romantic," Bright said rolling his eyes at her, "can I continue my story now?" Bright asked. Amy kept quiet and let him continue.  
  
"Anyways, I got roses and candy for her and was about to go down the steps to meet her and ask her out, when guess who came up the stairs?" Bright said smiling.  
  
"Who?" Ephram asked curiously.  
  
"Rachel," Bright said smiling thinking that Ephram and Amy would know what that would mean.  
  
"So?" Amy asked slowly.  
  
"Come on, you guys don't know Rachel? What kind of sister and friend are you two?" he laughed, "Rachel is my exgirlfriend, well she still thought we were together I guess, I'm not sure," he said smiling and laughing. Neither Amy or Ephram laughed so he continued with his story, "Anyways she came up the stairs and thought the roses and candy were for her, trust me, it was quite awkward, I told her that we were over and that the things weren't for her, she started crying and then got angry and pushed me hard yelling at me for being a player, and so that's how I lost my balance and fell down the stairs." He said.  
  
"Interesting story," Ephram said.  
  
"I still can't believe you want to go out with Peyton," Amy said. Bright got upset,  
  
"Amy what is your problem with her?" Bright said annoyed.  
  
"Nothing, it's I just don't see why everyone loves her so much," Amy said looking away from him. Neither Bright nor Ephram said anything. They were silent for a couple of seconds until Ephram spoke,  
  
"So what do the doctors say, how bad is it?" Ephram asked.  
  
"No idea, I think they're thinking broken leg, but I'm not sure if that's all," Bright said looking down at his damaged leg. A friendly looking doctor entered the room,  
  
I'm sorry guys but were going to need to do some work on Bright, so you'll have to leave," he said politely smiling at Ephram and Amy. Ephram and Amy got up from their chairs and walked out the door. They went out the hospital to a nearby mcdonalds to get so dinner. They both were starving, while Laynie and Peyton had left to go to a basketball game, they had stayed with Bright. 


	13. After the Game

Peyton and Laynie were standing strait up screaming for the one tree hill boys. They were the only ones from Everwood cheering....and they were cheering for the opposing team...you can only imagine how embaressing this could have been for fellow Everwood students if they had the slightest bit of school spirit. It was in the last seconds of the game and Jake had the ball, he dribbled it down the side of the court looking for a teammate to pass to. Luke, perfect, he threw the ball to Lukas in a fast chest pass, and in one quick motion Luke put it up and it swooshed through the net. Peyton and Laynie eruppted in screams, jumping up and down. The game was over and the two teams were giving each other the traditional "good game," Peyton and Laynie had settled down some and the crowd around them were slowly getting up and working towards leaving.  
  
"So what's the plan?" Laynie asked Peyton excited. She was excited about being with Jake but also pretty excited about meeting all the other tree hill guys. Including Luke, she couldn't wait to meet Luke.  
"No idea," Peyton said smiling, shrugging her shoulders. Peyton looked away from Laynie at the guys who were in one group surrounding Whitey, "there almost done, wanna go?" Peyton said, and while looking at them her smile grew even wider. She missed all of them so much, it felt so good to have them all so close to her again. The two of them rushed down the steps towards the boys who were just breaking apart from their huddle. Nathan and Luke walked together talking about the game. Peyton walked up to them casually.  
  
"Hey Peyton," Nathan said smiling at her. Peyton reached her arms around him and gave him a huge hug.  
  
"I missed you Nate," she said softly. He laughed and half hugged her back....sorta. She pulled away from him and turned towards Luke smiling.  
  
"Ok, I've got to go change," Nathan said quickly drawing Peyton's attention back to Nathan. He gave her a quick wave and ran to join the other boys. Luke looked over Peyton's shoulder at Jake and Laynie sitting together on the bleachers, talking softly. Luke smiled at the sight at them,  
  
"They make a cute couple," Luke said still watching them.  
  
"Yea," Peyton said searching Luke's eyes. He moved his gaze from Laynie and Jake to Peyton, he smiled into her eyes. Peyton looped her arm around his casually.  
  
"You have no idea how much I missed you," she said as they began walking to nowhere in particular. They walked out of the gym and into the hall.  
  
"It was so hard being without you," Luke said and then, "But I guess it must have been a million times harder for you," he said half laughing. "Look," he said turning towards her to look her in the eyes, "I've got to go change now, but after, wanna show me around your town?"  
  
"Yea," Peyton said smiling, "Change quickly," Peyton watched him walk away from her to the boys bathroom. She sat down in the hallway and waited for him to return. She saw him walking towards quickly, she smiled at the sight of him and slowly stood up.  
"Ok," he said when he reached her, "where to?" he reached out his hand to lift Peyton up from off the ground.  
  
ok that's all, I'm thinking of making both of them run into Amy and Ephram, that might be sorta interesting...maybe 


	14. A Peyton Luke Reunion

Peyton took his hand smiling,  
  
"Ok," she said brushing off her butt, "I am going to give you to official tour of my home."  
  
"Cool," Luke said "And I want to meet all of your friends," he said shaking his finger at her.  
  
"And you will," Peyton said taking his hand firmly and walking out the door.  
  
"Wait," Luke said stopping, "Should I be telling people where I'm going?"  
  
"Nah, I think there all going to the pizza place, we can head down there to be with them after your tour," she said.  
  
"Ok," Luke said smiling. He acted like he was so happy being able to see her new home and all of her new friends but in truth it saddened him. It hurt him that she had already moved on and made a new life. He had imagined her with no friends thinking of tree hill nonstop, thinking about him, very selfish and he knew it. Peyton had his hand and she was running ahead of him, dragging him behind he jogged to try to catch up.  
  
"I'm taking you to the first stop, my new home," Peyton said smiling in delight while still running towards her house. After running for about 5 minutes they reached Peyton's home. She stopped in front of it to face Luke.  
  
"It's my new home," she said nodding her head softly. Luke didn't really no what to say, she was really going so fast he just wanted to sit down and just talk to her, he didn't really want to take the tour.  
  
"Can I see your room?" he asked looking at the house, each window, trying to guess which one was hers.  
  
"Yea," she said and leaded him into the house. He was beginning to look around the down stairs front room but Peyton had already run upstairs. He followed behind slowly. He followed her into her room, to find her already sitting on her bed. She seemed to have calmed down very fast. She had been so excited about showing him around Everwood but now she seemed more relaxed, it seemed that she had forgotten about showing him around. Peyton just like Luke just wanted to talk and spend their time together. Luke moved to the bed and sat down next to her. Neither of them said anything for a couple of seconds.  
  
"I wish I still lived in Tree Hill," Peyton said softly looking into Luke's eyes. Luke reached out his hand and softly touched the side of her face.  
  
"I wish you did too, I've missed you so much," he said. And then looking down at his hands, "Peyton I've changed a lot I'm a much better person," he looked back towards her hesitantly. Peyton didn't need this, she had never thought Luke was a bad person, and to be honest, she had never stopped loving him. She leaned in slowly towards him and gave him a slow kiss on the lips. She pulled back from him and they both smiled. The kissed some more and both had never been more happy. They both were thinking pretty much the same thing, could it work this time? Could we make it work this time? They lay on the bed facing each other with their arms draped loosly around each other. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time.  
  
"Peyton," Luke said running his hands through her hair, "I think I am in love with you," Peyton didn't say anything back she just kissed him again. She pulled slowly away from the kiss smiling at him. Luke wasn't looking for an I love you back, everything was perfect the way it was.  
  
"Luke," Peyton said, "I still want to show you around my home and I still want you to meet my friends," she said slowly sitting up.  
  
"Ok," Luke said, not really wanting to do it, but knowing how important it was. They both got up from the bed and taking each other's hands slowly walked towards the door. "So tell me about the people I will soon be meeting," he said.  
  
"Well," she said getting a smile on her face when thinking about her friends, "you've met Laynie,"  
  
"Yes, I've met Laynie, who else?" Peyton smiled looking at him.  
  
"And, Ephram and Bright," she said. Luke was a tad bit frightened at the mention of two guys but he tried to act cool.  
  
"So where are they now?" Luke asked. Peyton paused bighting her bottom lip,  
  
"Bright's in the hospital and Ephram is with him," Luke was stunned.  
  
"What happened to him?" he asked with a worried expression on his face.  
  
"Umm....I'm not quite sure, being the awful friend that I was I just left him there to come see you," she shook her head and looked upset with herself all of a sudden.  
  
"No, Peyton you aren't an awful friend!" he said taking her hand encouragingly. Inside he was thinking about the Brooke thing, but that was mostly his fault, and he would never mention it.  
  
"So should we go to the hospital?" she asked questioningly.  
  
"Yes," and so hand in hand, talking together, the couple went to the hospital were Luke would soon meet Bright, Ephram, and Amy. 


	15. At the Pizza Shack

ok I changed something ummm....Amy and Ephram go to the Pizza Place NOT mcdonalds...It will work better...oh and another change: Luke and Peyton are going to Pizza place NOT hospital, just erase the conversation from before when she says about hospital or whatever, ok sorry for changing my story so much  
  
Amy and Ephram walked out of the hospital and made their way towards the pizza place.  
  
"So," Amy said nervously "how is everything going with you and Madison?" she waited anxiously for his response. She had heard some rumors about them not getting along that well anymore.  
  
"Wow, it's been so long since I've seen her," Ephram said laughing. Amy smiled slightly, waiting for him to elaborate. He paused looking at his hands, when he spoke his voice was unsure, "Actually I'm not really sure what is happening with us," he said shaking his head.  
  
"What happened?" Amy asked. Ephram shrugged looking away. "When was the last time you saw her?" Amy asked sounding concerned.  
  
"I don't know," Ephram said, "I think she could be mad at me."  
  
"You really need to call her up," Amy said opening the door to the pizza shack. They found a cozy spot near the corner and sat down.  
  
"Yea you're right," Ephram said, "I've been wanting to call her for a while but so much has been happening lately, you know?"  
  
"Yea, like Bright having a crush on Peyton, that was a suprise" Amy said picking up a menu.  
  
"Nah, I wasn't suprised," Ephram said laughing, "Peyton is perfect for Bright, they will be great together." Ephram had absolutely no idea how happy Amy was to hear that Ephram had no interests in Peyton, at least that's how it sounded to her. AND he wasn't getting along with Madison, things were looking good for her.  
  
"Really?" Amy said smiling at him "you think they go?"  
  
"Yea, there personalities just match" Amy just nodded her head, returning her attention back to the menu.  
  
"What are you going to get?" Amy asked still looking at the menu.  
  
"Wanna split a pepporoni pizza?" Ephram said putting down his menu.  
  
"Sure," Amy said shrugging. They didn't say anything for a while, Ephram was staring at her smiling softly and Amy was looking at her hands, or her feet, or the table.  
  
"So what has been happening with you?" Ephram asked leaning in closer towards her, "We haven't really talked for so long." Amy just shrugged it off,  
  
"Not much, I broke it of with Tommy, you knew that right?" she asked.  
  
"yea," Ephram said and was about to say something but stopped suddenly when he saw Luke and Peyton come in through the door.  
  
(AHHHHH!!!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!!! All of a sudden I want Peyton and Ephram to be together and I've messed up everything so much now! I just want to erase it all! SO I can make Peyton go to Ephram...sorry I know this chapter sucks, cause i haven't figured out how i want to make this story end) 


	16. Luke meets Ephram and Amy

Wow! It's been a while since i've written.  
  
"Peyton!" Ephram called half standing up and motioning for her and her friend to come over. Peyton smiled largely when she saw Ephram, she grabbed Luke by the arm and walked quickly over to meet with her friends.  
  
"Ephram!" she said, "How's Bright doing?"  
  
"Good," Ephram said staring at Luke.  
  
"Oh, right," Peyton said when she remembered Luke standing beside her, "Luke this is my friend Ephram, Ephram this is my friend Luke, oh," she said finally noticing Amy, "and this is another friend (she had no idea what else to call her), Amy." Luke stuck out his hand casually to shake Peyton's new friend's hands.  
  
"Nice to meet you," he said smiling. Peyton began looking around the pizza shack for the other tree hill boys, they were no where to be seen.  
  
"So," Ephram said sitting down, "do you two want to stay and eat with us?"  
  
"sure," Peyton said answering for the both of them. Peyton took the seat next to Ephram and Luke slowly, smiling, at Amy, scooted in next to her. Amy watched the beautiful handsome guy sitting awkwardly next to her in silence. He was so unbelievably gorgeous and he seemed like such a great guy.  
  
"So," Amy said speaking to Lukas, "How was your basketball game?" He smiled softly at Amy.  
  
"Good, we beat your school bad," he said laughing. Amy turned away from him laughing too.  
  
"Oh," Amy said suddenly remembering something, "Will Laynie and JAKE be joining us?"  
  
"Not sure, it's always a possibility," Peyton said. She was uneasy about Amy's sudden friendliness.  
  
"I kind of hope they come," Ephram said speaking at last, "I've been dying to meet this Jake of hers," he said calmly looking around the table. Luke smiled, he couldn't figure out what it was, but there was something about this guy that he really liked. He seemed to have some sort of secret knowledge, he was mature. Peyton was also smiling at Ephram, softly, Luke also noticed all of a sudden that Peyton was sitting pretty close to Ephram. Lukas was alarmed, what the hell was going on? Did Peyton like Ephram? She had just kissed him. Luke looked back at the two of them, Ephram looked briefly at Peyton, who was still smiling at him, and looked away quickly blushing. Maybe he was misinterpreting it. After all Peyton and him where meant to be together. He looked again at Ephram, Ephram was quirky, different, yet something about him made him all knowing and special. Luke looked away, flustered. Luke jumped when Amy spoke to him,  
  
"so your Peyton's friend," Amy said nodding towards Luke. It sounded completely stupid, but she wanted to talk to him, and she couldn't think of anything else to say.  
  
"Yea," Luke said laughing. Ephram and Peyton had started a conversation of there own he might as well talk to this girl.  
  
"So you're friend with Bright too?" Luke asked. Another extremely lame conversation starter, i mean the guy is in a hospital for gods sake.  
  
"Actually," Amy said, "Me and Bright are brothers," she said.  
  
"Oh, really," he said. He was trying to be interested in Amy and what she was saying, but his eyes were watching Peyton....and Ephram. They were talking easily about a movie or something.  
  
I don't know what do you guys think? I'm thinking about maybe doing something where i put in another chapter for another way the story could have gone, just to see which way goes better, review! Review! Review! 


End file.
